3/1/2013

Construction to reduce route near HQ to single lane Wednesday
Vehicle and pedestrian access east to Jordan Street from ITD Headquarters will be limited Wednesday (March 6) because of excavation on Rose Street. Construction is part of the 30th Street Extension (Whitewater Park Boulevard) project between State Street and Fairview Ave. The joint city of Boise-Ada County Highway District project will impact ITD employees occasionally through the 2013 construction season.
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Transportation board
Report shows savings from lost work days, vehicle accidents
ITD saw a notable decrease in lost days and related expenses because of injury accidents, a report to the transportation board last week indicated. There were less than half as many lost workdays, resulting in a 60 percent drop in related costs for those lost days.
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Best of the best
Two ITD projects receive ACEC national awards
And the awards for best engineering and construction projects and their supporting casts go to … Two Idaho projects will join the “red carpet” recognition next month when the American Council of Engineering Consultants presents its annual project awards in Washington, D.C.
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Engineering Girls
Eighth-grade girls learn about career options
Design engineer and WTS President Monica Crider, GARVEE Program Manager Amy Schroeder and ITD senior Human Resource specialist Michelle George led a group of eighth-grade girls on a tour of the material lab and conducted several educational activities.
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Reason Foundation report
Condition of nation's highways has improved last two decades
“Are Highways Crumbling? Many reports and numerous media articles claim that the nation’s highway infrastructure is “crumbling.” For example, the American Society of Civil Engineers assigned an overall D grade to the nation’s infrastructure (which includes waste, water, aviation, levee and transit systems, in addition to highways and bridges) and estimated that it would take a $2.2 trillion investment to bring it into a “state of good repair.”
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Reason Foundation report - Idaho
Idaho shows improvement in some highway condition categories
A report on the condition of the nation’s highway system ranked Idaho third for improvements to its rural interstates and third in improvements to its rural principal arterial highway conditions. The report, “Are Highways Crumbling?” showed 24.5 percent of the pavement on Idaho’s rural interstate highways were deficient in 1989. It improved by 1.5 percent in 1999 and 1.3 percent in 2008, the last year for which data was available to researchers.
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Outstanding Customer Service
Program serves disadvantaged businesses
Wherever Liz Healas goes in Idaho (and she is very well-traveled) she tends to draw an enthusiastic, inquisitive crowd. Participants come with questions and leave with answers. Healas is the lone contact in Idaho for business owners who want to share a role in transportation projects as certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises(DBEs).
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Employees
ITD continues to prepare for new version of 'Advantage'
ITD will migrate to an upgraded version of Advantage, a financial program used for procurement, payments and payroll. Introduction of Advantage 3.9 will take place Tuesday, March 12. Key items of note ...
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Women’s History Month
STEM field contributions celebrated
March is designated as National Women’s History Month to honor the contributions of both notable and ordinary women and ensure their efforts are recognized and celebrated throughout the country. The 2013 National Women's History Month theme is Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination.
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Transportation board
Encore (2-22-13): Coleman reappointed to board from D-1
The Idaho Senate confirmed the reappointment of Jim Coleman to the six-member Idaho Transportation Board Feb. 12. Coleman his first six-year appointment to the board on Feb. 1, 2007 and was nominated for a second term by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter. The new term will expire on Jan. 31, 2018.
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Outstanding Customer Service
ITD crews assist stranded crash victim
Barbara Popovich was visibly shaken and in need of help. Conditions couldn’t have been much worse. The mountainous highway had turned from rain-soaked to slush covered on Jan. 9. The pick-up truck she was driving and the horse trailer she was pulling went separate directions, but remained connected. A single horse was jostled inside the trailer, but also remained safe.
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Highway safety
Encore (2-22-13): High school class studies wildlife, vehicle collisions
The applied physics class at Wood River High School has concluded that motorists traveling 55 mph on state Highway 75 probably won’t have time to stop if a deer or elk suddenly bolts in front of them when it’s dark.
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